Cannot Access Asus X401A BIOS

[mikekoz]

I have an odd problem with an Asus X401A. It belongs to a friends mother who is not in good health, and she cannot remember her password. I have a utility to reset it, but the laptop has to be booted from a USB drive to do so. The problem is, I cannot get into the BIOS to set the proper parameters to do this. According to the Asus webpage, you hit the F2 key at power up. This does not work. I have also tried F12, ESC, and Delete. No matter what key you hit, the laptop boots right into Windows 8. I can login to the Guest account and can see that the F2 key is working. The Guest account has no admin rights, so I cannot access the BIOS through Windows 8. Does anybody have any ideas??? Thanks to anybody in advance!!!

 

[weilin]

try F10 for BIOS, also try F12 to see if you can access a boot override.

 

[mikekoz]

try F10 for BIOS, also try F12 to see if you can access a boot override.

Thanks. Just tried both and the same thing happens. The system boots into Windows and ignores the keystrokes.

 

[weilin]

here's your problem:
http/www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417361,00.asp

 

[mikekoz]

here's your problem:
http/www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417361,00.asp

Thanks, but since I can only access the Guest Account on the laptop, I cannot get into the BIOS through Windows to change that setting. I have those settings enabled on several of my newer laptops and I can still access the BIOS from power up on them. I should be able to do the same on this Asus. That is what is baffling me at the moment! ;p). I could try removing the hard drive, and that would probably make the system go into the BIOS, but this laptop was poorly designed and you have to remove about 12 screws then pry to top cover and keyboard off. I know how to do it, but since it is not my laptop I was trying to avoid it.

 

[mikekoz]

Well, after trying the F2 key countless times, it all of a sudden started working and I was able to get in! Thank you for all of your time and efforts in assisting me with this problem!